# impulse
## English
### Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French impulser, from Latin impulsus.
For spelling, as in pulse, the -e (on -lse) is so the end is pronounced /ls/, rather than /lz/ as in pulls, and does not change the vowel (‘u’). Compare else, false, convulse.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈɪmpʌls/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Hyphenation: im‧pulse

### Noun

impulse (plural impulses)
* A thrust; a push; a sudden force that impels.
** c. 1715-1716, Samuel Clarke, letter to Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
    All spontaneous animal motion is performed by mechanical impulse.
* A wish or urge, particularly a sudden one prompting action.
    The impulse to learn drove me to study night and day.
    When I saw the new book, I couldn't resist the impulse to browse through it.
** 1685, John Dryden, transl., “Preface”, in Sylvæ: Or, The Second Part of Poetical Miscellanies, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC; reprinted Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, page 16:Theſe were my natural Impulses for the undertaking: […]
** 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, […] .”
** 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1965, →OCLC, page 218:An impulse urged him to plant a sudden blow on it, by he forced himself to consider the impolicy of such an act.
* (physics) The integral of force over time.
    The total impulse from the impact will depend on the kinetic energy of the projectile.

#### Derived terms

* impulse buy
* impulse-buy
* impulse buyer
* impulse buying
* impulse control disorder
* impulse function
* impulse good
* impulse noise
* impulse purchase
* impulse response
* nerve impulse
* on an impulse
* on impulse
* specific impulse

#### Related terms

* impel
* impulsion
* impulsive
* impulsively
* impulsiveness
* impulsivity
* impulsor
* pulse

#### Translations
### Verb

impulse (third-person singular simple present impulses, present participle impulsing, simple past and past participle impulsed)
* (transitive) To impel; to incite.
** 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):With that force so impulsed and prest they are carried under the deepe Ocean.

### References

* “impulse”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
* “impulse”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
* Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “impulse”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

## French
### Pronunciation

* Homophones: impulsent, impulses

### Verb

impulse
* inflection of impulser:
** first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
** second-person singular imperative

## Italian
### Verb

impulse
* third-person singular past historic of impellere

## Latin
### Participle

impulse
* vocative masculine singular of impulsus

## Spanish
### Pronunciation

* IPA: /imˈpulse/ [ĩmˈpul.se]
* Rhymes: -ulse
* Syllabification: im‧pul‧se

### Verb

impulse
* inflection of impulsar:
** first/third-person singular present subjunctive
** third-person singular imperative